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Saturday, August 10, 2013

I have known for several years about the diverse folk music
traditions coming from the provinces of Spain.From the haunting strains of Galician Celtic fare to the fiery strums of
Andalusian flamenco to early music traditions, and the music of the Jewish and
Moor populations, we could spend a lifetime discovering Spanish folk
traditions.While hardly an exhaustive
compilation, The Ultimate Guide to
Spanish Folk Music whets our appetites, though some of the tracks sound too
modern too my ears, while others such as Doa’s revisit to the early music song,
Levou-se a fremosa has me swooning a
bit from its enchanting vocals and hurdy-gurdy.

Compiled by radio hosts, Juan Antonio Vásquez and Araceli
Tzigane (for Mundofoniás--national radio of Spain), we hear music from Majorca,
Barcelona, the Canary Islands (which is new for me), Galicia, Extremadura, Asturias,
Valencia and accordion from Basque Country, just to give you an idea of their
musical travels.This compilation
shares commonalities with the Rough Guide music compilations with its wealth of
information presented in the liner notes and its combination of unknown
musicians (outside of Europe or Spain) and bigger names of world music such as,
Marina Rossell (Un Somni en dos actes),
and Kepa Junkera (La Tía Canaria) and
Eliseo Parra (La Llave de la alegría).Folk instruments play along side more modern
sounds on some tracks or a song could only feature two or three acoustic
instruments.

Galician Mercedes Peón opens the CD with the rollicking Isué--certainly a high energy song
featuring traditional tambourines, frame drums, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes,
accordion and a hearty choir.Typical of
Galicia, this song weds Middle Eastern modes with Celtic strains backed by
polyrhythms.In contrast, from Asturias,
Anabel Santiago’s Ven a veme only
provides rhythm on an acoustic guitar and light percussion that frame Santiago’s
elongated and soaring vocals.Manu
Sequera from Extremadura brings us the fun a cappella song, El gazpacho and you might just walk away
hungry after listening to a recipe for gazpacho (that is if you understand
Spanish).

On the track, La Tía
Canaria we are treated to the traditional accordion of Basque Country and
the lute, timple from the Canary Islands on this sweet instrumental piece.The compilation wouldn’t be complete without
one of my favorite Spanish vocalist, Marina Rossell who teams up with Catalan
string specialist, Eduard Iniesta on Un
somni en dos actes.And from
Valladolid, Eliseo Parra performs La
llave de la alegría on instruments from around the world and regional
Spain.This is another one of those
songs that sends me on a quest for regional music.While I cannot get to all the artists on the
compilation, I find the overall collection enjoyable and recommend it to world
travelers

On visits to YouTube, I have encountered street musicians
playing didgeridoo on street corners and sidewalks.I can’t imagine encountering didgeridoo
players on the streets where I reside, however, I can listen to Dieter Iby
perform his world fusion on Didgeridoo
Street Music.The musician arranges
didgeridoo with West African percussion instruments and he partners with kora
player (West African harp) Stefan Charisius on Sim.Mah (Pisces) with spectacular otherworldly results.Iby also pleases me with his song titles which
feature signs of the Zodiac.I’m not
sure if the musician is familiar with astrological energies, but he certainly
matches the right song to the right sign.

For instance, the opener, Gu.an.na (Taurus) feels sensual and grounding to me similar to the
sign Taurus and the track I already mentioned for Pisces also feels right
on.The second track, named for Leo
starts off with a roar and has a jungle like feel after the drums show up.So this leads me to experiment by seeing how
well the songs match the signs.Gu (Aquarius) should electrify us or
wake us up.This song starts out with
chimes (which is already different than the previous tracks), and then, yes, it
feels electrifying once the didgeridoo starts grooving.The Libra track would bring us back into
balance--and the didgeridoo strikes a balance with percussion.Let’s look at one more track, Dub (Cancer) which should evoke deeper
emotions and a sense of safety. I don’t know that it does, but it’s funky
nonetheless.

This CD features invigorating music that begs us to move in
some way, preferably free form dance.Even with the low guttural sounds of the didgeridoo, these songs won’t
relax listeners and pets might not respond positively to these songs because of
their jagged rhythms (so be mindful not to crank up the volume when pets are
around).I am unable to listen to the
entire CD in one sitting, but I enjoy listening to a few tracks at a time.However, if you love didgeridoo or play this
instrument, you’ll want to add this recording to your collection.You might even learn new techniques from
listening to it.

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About Me

I am a musician, instructor, novelist and veteran arts journalist with an interest in the healing powers of music. I am the author of Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit). I launched The Whole Music Experience in 2007 to promote the healing potential of mainly traditional and classical music. I started teaching music awareness workshops in 2009.
I also post articles on World Music Central and contribute to print publications.
I believe that high vibrational music heals individuals and communities through cultural exchange, music preservation and music therapy. Music, similar to prayer and meditation moves us to a place deep within us, thus promoting peace, but it depends on the music too.
I've published articles in Global Rhythm, World Music Central, Early Music America, Skagit Valley Herald "A & E Monthly," and other fine music publications.

Endorsement for a Whole Music Experience workshop

I took the “Developing a Healthy Music Diet” class in winter quarter and had a great time with it. The musical examples Patricia provided in class were diverse and stimulating. The experiential part was easy to manage and I achieved a beneficial result for my health and well-being – releasing a stress pattern and obtaining restful sleep for the first time in many weeks!

I recommend this class to anyone who is interested in expanding and enriching their consciousness of how the music they listen to, or could be listening to, affects their quality of life, or to anyone who works in a healing profession and utilizes environmental music or sound as a complementary modality. I also highly recommend visiting Patricia’s expansive blog on healing music (The Whole Music Experience). ---Allan Tamm

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To St. Francesco & St. Chiara of Assisi

May we all lift our voices in songs of joy & treat all creatureswith love & respect.

Disclaimer:

This blog is meant to suggests ideas and projectsthat might be healing to a community or an individual.If readers have a specific health problem,the advice is to see a qualified health provider.What works for one person, might not for another.

This blog features an array of healing musicfrom community projects, cultural preservationto sound healing.